Sunday, August 3, 2025
Home Blog Page 934

September, 2011 – Winning Peace Essay for PB Central High

admin
-
0
September, 2011 – Winning Peace Essay for PB Central High

Congratulations to Wyla Goldstein, who won the essay contest for Palm Beach Central High School for her article about peace. She will be invited to read the essay at the annual Peace Ceremony, which takes place on September 21st at 6pm at the Wellington Rotary Peace Park.

winner-wyla-goldstein-palm-beach-central-high-essay1

September, 2011 – Kids Eat FREE

admin
-
0
September, 2011 – Kids Eat FREE

KIDS EAT FREE AROUND WELLINGTON

 

Compiled by Shawn Thompson

 

This is your one-stop source for your favorite restaurants around town where your kids can eat free!  All restaurants listed offer one

Shawn Thompson

free child meal (10 and under – some are 12 and under) per adult entrée purchased unless specified (drink offers vary).  Since most places change their kids eat free promotions from time to time, please call ahead to make sure the offer is still good.

 

If you have a favorite restaurant that offers a freebie meal not listed, please feel free to share!

___________________________________________________________________

 

MONDAY

 

Brass Ring Pub   10998 Okeechobee Blvd., RPB  (561)296-4563

After 5 p.m. – drink included

 

Hurricane Grill & Wings  11071 Southern Blvd, RPB  (561)753-4868

After 5 p.m. – drink included

 

Perkins  7859 Lake Worth Rd. (561)964-3933

After 4 p.m. – drink + cookie included

 

Romeo’s   13889 Wellington Trace, Wellington  (561)793-7100

All day – drink included

 

Bonefish Mac’s Sports Grille  10880 Forest Hill Blvd., Wellington (561)798-6227

All day – drink included (2 kids per adult w/ $8 meal)

___________________________________________________________________

 

TUESDAY

 

Applebee’s  10600 W. Forest Hill Blvd. (561)790-2994

All day – drink included (and free bounce house)

 

Centanni Italian  10107 Southern Blvd., RPB  (561)792-7677

Dinner only – drink not included

 

Roadhouse Grill  3887 Jog Rd., Lake Worth  (561)967-0532

Dinner only and drink + ice-cream included – 7 p.m. bike drawing

 

Denny’s  300 Civic Way, RPB  (561)793-0772

From 4-10 p.m.  – no drink included (2 kids per one adult meal)

 

Tequila Cancun  2202 Jog Rd., Greenacres  (561)641-5100

After 5 p.m. – no drink included

 

Bru’s Room  11111 Southern Blvd., RPB  (561)790-2771

From 5-9 p.m. – drink included

 

The Ice King of Wellington  13860-40 Wellington Trace, Wellington (561)792-2900

Receive a small ice with the purchase of a medium ice.

 

Shane’s Rib Shack   11051 Southern Blvd. (Costco Center) RPB  (561)333-7424

All day – drink included

 

WEDNESDAY

 

Nature’s Table  13889 Wellington Trace, Suite A7, Wellington Marketplace 

(561)383-8343

After 4 p.m. – adult must buy a sandwich + a drink

 

Moe’s Southwest Grill  2605 St. Rd. 7, Bay 410   (561)792-5712

After 3 p.m. – drink, cookie + chips included

 

Duffy’s  11935 Southern Blvd., RPB   (561)792-4045

All day – drink included

 

Tequila Cancun  2202 Jog Rd., Greenacres  (591)641-5100

After 5 p.m. – no drink included

 

Sal’s  11995 Southern Blvd. #2, RPB  (561)784-0778

After 4 p.m. – drink included

 

Romeo’s   13889 Wellington Trace, Wellington  (561)793-7100

All day – drink included

 

THURSDAY

 

Bonefish Mac’s Sports Grille  10880 Forest Hill Blvd., Wellington (561)798-6227

All day – drink included (2 kids per adult w/ $8 meal)

 

FRIDAY

 

See Everyday section

 

SATURDAY

 

Bru’s Room  11111 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach  (561)790-2771

For kids in their sports uniforms!  From 11-4 p.m. – drink included  (2 kids/adult)

Steak ’n Shake   133 S. State Rd. 7, RPB  (561)333-6474

All day – drink included

 

On the Border  11121 Southern Blvd., West Palm Beach  (561)798-5035

From 11-4 – drink included

 

SUNDAY

 

Steak ’n Shake  133 S. State Rd. 7, RPB (561) 333-6474

All day – drink included

 

The Gypsy’s Horse  12794 W. Forest Hill Blvd.  (561)333-3700

All day – drink included

________________________________________________________________________

EVERYDAY/ALMOST EVERYDAY

 

Butterfields Southern Café  1145 Royal Palm Beach Blvd., RPB  (561)792-8723

4-8 p.m. every day except Wednesdays – no drink included

 

Golden Corral  10100 Fox Trail Roads, RPB  (561)793-0201

Under 3 only –  drink included

 

The Original Pancake House    105 South State Rd. 7, RPB  (561)296-0878

7-9 a.m. every day – drink included

 

IHOP   13860 1 & 2 Wellington Trace, Wellington  (561)798-8843

4 p.m. – 8 p.m. – no drink included

_____________________________________________________________

 

ALMOST FREE

 

Sandbar & Grill   NW corner of RPB Blvd. and Okeechobee Blvd. (561)795-8500

.99 every day after 4 p.m. – no drink included

 

McDonald’s  1470 Greenview Shores Blvd, Wellington  (561)790-7071

.99 4-piece chicken nuggets everyday

 

Shawn Thompson has two children, Aaron age 9 and Audrey age 5.  She enjoys volunteering at her children’s schools, attending their activities and taking evening walks with her family and their dog BB.  Shawn also helps her husband Tony with his business Relylocal.com.  Please e-mail her any free deals you find and would like to have included to chefshawnt@comcast.net.

 

 

September, 2011 – S&P Downgrade

admin
-
0

 

S&P Downgrade of US Credit Rating Cites Political Brinksmanship, Looming Deficit from Rising Health Care Costs

 

By Constance Barnhart Koontz, Editor of www.HelpingYouCare.com

 

S&P Downgrade of U.S. Credit Rating

Standard & Poors (S&P), one of three international credit-rating companies, issued a Research Update on Friday evening, August 5, 2011, in which it downgraded the credit rating of the United States of America, for the first time in history, from an AAA to an AA+ rating.

The actual S&P Research Update of August 5, 2011, downgrading the U.S. credit rating, was published by S&P on their website. It is entitled, “United States of America Long-Term Rating Lowered To ‘AA+’ On Political Risks And Rising Debt Burden; Outlook Negative.”

In stating its Rationale for the downgrade, S&P wrote:

“The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy.”

S&P goes on to state that, “in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently.” They point to the facts that the recent law included only “relatively modest savings on discretionary spending,” failed to address entitlement reform in a serious way, and “It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options,” as reasons for the downgrade.

Reaction to the downgrade has included a flurry of political spin, with Republicans trying to blame the President, and some commentators criticizing S&P for their action as well as for the agency’s past screw-ups in rating as AAA toxic collateralized debt obligations created by Wall Street that caused the implosion of our economy in 2008.

But, few so far have examined the actual text of S&P’s Research Update itself, and tried to understand what exactly S&P is saying and what it means. Nor have many noticed that this downgrade is all about the failure of policy makers in Congress to address the looming fiscal crisis that an aging population and consequent mushrooming of health care costs threatens for our economy — a threat that S&P previously warned of in a June 21, 2011 report it cites in its rationale for the current downgrade.

What is S&P Actually Saying?

Since these issues directly impact the future ability of all of us — especially the Baby Boom Generation — to finance and procure needed health care coverage and services in our rapidly approaching senior years, it behooves us to look carefully at what S&P is actually saying.

Rising Health Care Costs for An Aging Population = Primary Cause of Crisis, S&P Says

In all the political finger pointing and hot rhetoric, few have noticed that in its Rationale for its current rating action, S&P specifically cites its previous report, “Global Aging 2011: In The U.S., Going Gray Will Likely Cost Even More Green, Now,” issued on June 21, 2011. In that report, S&P warned that a “looming U.S. fiscal bill is growing as the population gets older,” and that “the challenges facing the U.S. are more severe than those facing many of the other major industrial societies … because of its rapidly escalating health care costs.”

S&P’s June, 2011 report introduced the subject by stating:

“As the baby boomers start to reach retirement age, the percentage of the U.S. … population eligible for government support will begin to mount. Babies born in 1946 turn 65 this year and will become eligible for Medicare. They will also be entitled to start collecting full Social Security retirement benefits next year, under the current system. The U.S. government, however, is not currently collecting enough money to pay its Medicare, Social Security, and other long-term bills.”

In that June report, S&P pointed out, “In 2010, there were 26 retirees for every 100 members of the U.S. labor force. By 2050, however, we expect that there will be 50 retirees per 100 workers. In other words, the U.S. will go from four workers to support every retiree to only two.”

These ratios are better in the U.S. than in some other countries (such as Japan and Italy which “will have only one worker per retiree by 2050″), S&P said, “thanks to a somewhat higher birth rate and a much higher immigration rate” in the U.S.

Nevertheless, S&P projected in June, 2011, that if no changes are made in U.S. policy (including tax policy and spending for entitlement programs), government debt would reach 600% of GDP by 2050! With no change in policy, S&P said in June that this level of mushrooming debt would cause further downgrades in the U.S. credit rating to “A” by 2020, to “BBB” by 2025, and to “Speculative grade” by 2030 and thereafter. This would likely cause investors to move away from U.S. government bonds and notes, costing the U.S. government and consumers skyrocketing interest rates and further impairing our ability to pay our debts or provide the services required by our aging population.

S&P stated in June that this scenario was a hypothetical, and S&P did not project this would actually happen, because it then assumed that policy makers in Washington would act to address this looming crisis.

S&P stated, however, that the impetus for issuing its warning report in June, 2011 was the extension of the Bush tax cuts which Congress implemented in December, 2010. S&P stated that continuing these tax cuts, had caused S&P to raise their projections of government debt from 400% of GDP to 600% of GDP by 2050, absent any other policy changes. This worsening of their projections, S&P said, “is primarily due to the effect on the general government budgetary trajectory of the December tax agreement.”

In its June, 2011 report, S&P attributed the cause of our looming crisis principally to rising costs of health care and long-term care as our population ages, and to the failure of policy makers to come together to address the shortfall.

The Agency said:

“Absent policy action, age-related government spending (health care, pensions, long-term care, and unemployment benefits [alone]) will by our calculation rise to 18.5% of GDP in 2050 from 10.8% currently. Health care and long-term care expenses are responsible for almost all of the increase. … The U.S. already spends more of its GDP on health care (both publicly and privately provided) than any other OECD country.”

“Health care inflation is higher in the U.S. than in most other countries, both in absolute terms and relative to other prices,” S&P said. They made clear that this and the aging population are the primary drivers of the projected increase in government spending on health care in the U.S. S&P did not advocate that the public sector should pay a smaller percentage of the total health care bill in the U.S. In fact, they noted that in the U.S. “public expenditures cover less than half of U.S. health care costs,” while in OECD countries the public sector pays 72% or more of health care costs. What they did advocate is that policy makers must come together to find a rational approach to pay for future required government spending on health care as our population ages.

Social Security is also not the principal problem, according to S&P. They projected that “Social Security payments will increase as the baby boomers enter retirement age over the next 20 years,” from the current 4.8% of GDP “to a peak of 6.2% of GDP in 2035 and then drop back to 5.9% in 2050.” The “modest size” of this issue, S&P said, suggests the government could solve it through some combination of raising the full retirement age for persons born after 1960, slightly increasing contribution rates, means testing and other measures.

Political Solution Required, S&P Warns

Toward solving the principal problem of escalating government health care costs, S&P noted that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 will help in that it “contained provisions for cost containment,” which “could — depending on yet-to-be-determined specifics — lead to significant long-term cost savings.” But, S&P said, “some uncertainty exists about the ability of these provisions to control or cut costs significantly in the long term, especially given opposition to the [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act] and a more closely split Congress since the Republicans picked up seats last November.” [emphasis supplied]

S&P noted that,

“earlier this year both President Obama and Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin presented far-reaching proposals for reining in long-term expenditure growth in entitlement programs. These two plans presented very different paths to reaching this goal–the former focusing more on making health care spending more efficient, the latter on significantly reducing the scope of federally-funded health care programs. Still, the two proposals at least appear to imply agreement, on both sides, that the U.S. needs to soon begin to address long-term cost drivers.”

In it June, 2011 report, however, S&P concluded with a warning that failure of political leaders to come to agreement and take reasonable action to address the looming fiscal crisis driven by escalating health care costs for our aging population, would in fact lead to a downgrade of the U.S.’ credit rating. S&P set the stage for its present downgrade of the U.S. credit standing in concluding its June, 2011 report with this warning:

“Nevertheless, one contributing factor in our negative outlook decision is our view that there has, as yet, been no significant progress in addressing these long-term cost drivers nor any consensus developing among the Obama Administration, the Senate, and the House of Representatives regarding the specifics of a comprehensive plan to address the long-term budgetary challenges. As the issues involved affect all U.S. citizens, we believe that negotiations on meaningful fiscal consolidation will likely take time and could result in only piecemeal measures. Current political discourse, in our view, makes even this seem unlikely to happen before the 2012 presidential and congressional elections. Our Global Aging 2010 study illustrates the potential future, long-term effects that the demographic and other cost drivers we identified could have, by themselves, if the government doesn’t eventually take substantial and sustained policy action.”

S&P’s Rationale for its Current Downgrade of the U.S. Credit Rating

With this background, the current S&P downgrade of the U.S. credit rating was quite predictable, given what S&P now termed, “the political brinksmanship of recent months,” which prevented policy makers in Washington from reaching agreement on a viable long-term or medium-term solution for the looming fiscal crisis of which S&P had warned in June.

As quoted in part above, in S&P’s words:

“The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy. Despite this year’s wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently. Republicans and Democrats have only been able to agree to relatively modest savings on discretionary spending while delegating to the Select Committee decisions on more comprehensive measures. It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options. In addition, the plan envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare and little change in other entitlements, the containment of which we and most other independent observers regard as key to long-term fiscal sustainability.”

S&P’s references to “the political brinksmanship of recent months” in which “The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy,” are easy to understand, given recent statements made by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R – Kentucky). Following adoption of the recent compromise hammered out by President Obama and Congressional Leaders after months of threats by Republicans in Congress to block raising of the debt ceiling if their particular fiscal proposals were not agreed to, Senator McConnell was quoted on August 2, 2011 in the Washington Post as saying:

“I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting,” he said. “Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this — it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming. And it focuses the Congress on something that must be done.”

Then on Larry Kudlow’s show on CNBC, Senator McConnell essentially threatened to continue holding the debt ceiling and the ability of the U.S. government to pay its bills “hostage” to the policy demands of his party, saying:

“What we have done, Larry, also is set a new template. In the future, any president, this one or another one, when they request us to raise the debt ceiling it will not be clean anymore. This is just the first step. This, we anticipate, will take us into 2013. Whoever the new president is, is probably going to be asking us to raise the debt ceiling again. Then we will go through the process again and see what we can continue to achieve in connection with these debt ceiling requests of presidents to get our financial house in order.”

With these widely quoted statements by the Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate, it is easy to understand S&P’s reference to “political brinksmanship” in which “The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy.”

S&P said that, “Standard & Poor’s takes no position on the mix of spending and revenue measures that Congress and the Administration might conclude is appropriate for putting the U.S.’s finances on a sustainable footing.” Nevertheless, in describing the recent budget compromise bill, they stated that it “fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently,” and they pointedly mentioned that, “The act contains no measures to raise taxes or otherwise enhance revenues, though the committee could recommend them.”

In their credit downgrade report, S&P based their worsening projections of the U.S. budget deficit on revised and downgraded base case assumptions. “Compared with previous projections,” they stated, “our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place.” “We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act,” S&P said.

Based on this “base case scenario,” they projected that the “net general government debt would rise from an estimated 74% of GDP by the end of 2011 to 79% in 2015 and 85% by 2021.”

Further, based on these base case assumptions, including their assumption that the Bush Tax Cuts will not be allowed to expire, S&P warned that this economic scenario could lead to a further downgrade of the U.S. credit rating to “AA.” The S&P report referred to “Our revised downside scenario–which, other things being equal, we view as being consistent with a possible further downgrade to a ‘AA’ long-term rating.”

On the other hand, S&P said that a scenario that would enable the U.S. to retain the “AA+” rating and avoid further downgrade would include elimination of the Bush tax cuts “for high earners.” They said, “Our revised upside scenario–which, other things being equal, we view as consistent with the outlook on the ‘AA+’ long-term rating being revised to stable–retains these same macroeconomic assumptions. In addition, it incorporates $950 billion of new revenues on the assumption that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for high earners lapse from 2013 onwards, as the Administration is advocating.”

More . . .

 

About HelpingYouCare™

HelpingYouCare™ (.com and .org) was founded, as a community service, by a caregiver, Connie Barnhart Koontz, and her husband David Koontz, with the support and guidance of a dedicated and caring team of advisors and contributors. Our purpose is to help you care for your aging parents & senior loved ones and for yourself, by providing the comprehensive, serious and helpful information, news, resources, education, practical tools, and support you need as a family caregiver. Our further purpose is to give voice to your concerns and suggestions, as well as those of health care experts, for the improvement of our health and long-term care systems. Our mission is to help meet the rapidly growing needs of caregivers and their senior loved ones as our population ages.

 

September, 2011 – Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill

admin
-
0
September, 2011 – Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill

Cultural Corner

 

Up Close with Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill

 

By Marla E. Schwartz

 

Florida audiences are familiar with Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill as she has been performing in the area for years. And there’s no doubt that the upcoming production of her show LATIN ROOTS at Festival Miami at the University of Miami presented in collaboration with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers will electrify you. An accomplished stage, film and television artist, her current show is a love-letter to her father Desi Arnaz. Her father passed away in 1986 and her mother, Lucille Ball in 1989. She and her brother Desi Arnaz, Jr., oversee their parent’s distinguished legacy by managing Desilu, too, LLC.

 

lucie
Photo: Augustus Butera

 

LATIN ROOTS gives people a rare opportunity to hear Lucie and the UM band perform many of her father’s famous hits. You can feel Desi’s presence when you listen to this music. “I only dreamed I’d do a concert entitled exactly this – LATIN ROOTS,” Lucie said. It was a long road with lots of hard work done to make it happen. “After my father passed away I started listening to his music because I found this treasure trove of cassettes which were the original Desi Arnaz arrangements and recordings that had never been published before, it meant a lot to me getting to know that music. I had 200 original arrangements in 20 boxes in my garage. What do you do with these boxes of great Desi Arnaz Orchestra arrangements?”

Well, what she did was contact Michael Feinstein, (who will also be appearing at Festival Miami) a singer, pianist and archivist who was contacted by Ira Gershwin to catalogue his extensive collection. He was the perfect person to ask advice.

“Michael said you must give these to the Library of Congress, they have a whole music division and they preserve paper. I called them up and asked them if they’d be interested in having this and they were thrilled and came to get it all and subsequently over a couple of years archived it in proper boxes and catalogued it all,” Lucie said. “In 2009 at the New York 92nd Street Y, famous for its Lyric & Lyricist Series, I was talking about what happens to arrangements after the people that use them are no longer with us. The Artistic Director said, ‘whatever happened to your dad’s arrangements from the orchestra?’ I told him and he said, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we could a do an evening celebrating the Latin Music craze in this country and how it started, seen specifically through the music of the Desi Arnaz Orchestra?’ I thought ‘this is has totally come full circle for me.’ I met this great arranger, conductor Ron Abel, twenty-three years ago, and who is still my musical director, and he suggested we get the CD out in January in time for this concert.”

 

The question is – will Ron be appearing in LATIN ROOTS at Festival Miami this year? “Absolutely. I couldn’t do it without him,” Lucie exclaimed. “He’s in Fran Dresher’s new show HAPPILY DIVORCED (on TV LAND) and he got a call truly out of the blue from Fran’s ex-husband Peter (Marc Jacobson) who is the producer. He asked him flat out if he’d play himself. Peter didn’t want a Ron Abel type, he wanted Ron Abel to play the guy who plays the piano in the piano bar they frequent in practically every episode because her best friend who works in the florist shop with her in the series is a singer and they’ve incorporated this into the show. It’s a very kind of risqué subject matter and it’s hysterically funny. Fran is better than she has ever been. She’s really good in this and the writing is quite funny and Ron plays this great Ron Abel guy at the piano who plays his butt off and they sing and play live music and as the episodes go on apparently he even has lines. He thought they were going to give him a name, like Joe, to set him up, but he saw the credits at the end of one show and he’s listed as Ron Abel as himself and that’s a huge compliment. It’s way better than having a character named after you.”

 

TV Land originally aired classic television shows but it has now moved into the exciting realm of combining this programming with newer shows, original shows, movies and its own awards ceremony. In fact, it was in 2007 at the 5th Annual TV Land Awards show that Lucie and Desi accepted the Legacy of Laughter Award for their mother which was reverentially presented, which great humor, of course, by the magnificent Carol Burnett.

 

lucie-silver
Photo: Augustus Butera.

 

“I’m excited about being able to do it at UM because my daughter Katie is a graduate of the Musical Theatre department and I’m hoping she’ll be coming with me,” Lucie said. “I love those guys over there and Shelly Berg {Dean/Frost School of Music} is a genius – he’s crazy good and smart. And Michael Kerker, Director of Musical Theatre for ASCAP, has been a friend of mine for many years, asked me if I’d be the entertainment on Nov. 3rd, and then we’ll do a little talk-back with him at the end. I’m really looking forward to it.”

There’s one particular song on the CD called THE MUSIC IN YOUR HEART, where you can feel Desi’s musical gift reverberating through the generations. “Oh, thank you. I tell you not just because my son Joe wrote it but because I think it turned out so well. I asked him to send me something and a week later he sent this great groove with a wonderful melody and terrific guitar riffs and I said it was fabulous – but there were no lyrics and he writes lyrics. He said he felt it was right but didn’t know what it was saying. I thought I’d give it a shot. I thought about it for a long time before I put anything on paper and all of the sudden it wrote itself in thirty minutes. I felt that here I was doing this tribute to my dad, this was the third generation and Joe was always saying to me that it’s too bad Grandpa Desi isn’t still here because he was a guitarist too and I’d like to get his take on my music and play it for him and it was my way of saying we’re always still here in spirit.” And there’s more, when you listen to Lucie sing Dan Fogelberg’s song Leader of the Band, a brilliant bonus cut on her CD, it will move you to tears. But joyful tears.

Lucie also discussed her experiences working with Vivian Vance, an accomplished Broadway actress who is primarily remembered for her portrayal as Ethel Mertz in one of America’s most beloved television shows I Love Lucy and as Vivian Bagley on The Lucy Show.

There are abundant reasons as to why this gifted woman was such a mentor to Lucie. “First of all, the fact that she was always Aunt Viv, and always listened – you know when you’re a little kid not too many people who are busy running studios and being celebrities have the time to really sit with their kids and just listen,” Lucie explained. “That was the hardest thing for my mom – to have the time to just sit down and hang with her kids and ask questions like ‘what do you like best about school’ or ‘what’s the worst thing that happened today – or the best thing’ or ‘who’s your favorite doll’ or anything just something that you’re interested in – because they’re busy. But Vivian, whenever she was around, would be the one who would go over in the corner with us and sit down and talk to us like we were adults. She talked to us little kids like she cared.”

cover-of-latin-roots-cd-by-lucie-arnaz-001“I loved that about her and as I grew older and I was an actress and she would guest star on our show and she took a more adult interest and she said ‘so, Lulu, what do you do on your hiatus’ and I started naming all the fabulous vacation spots in the world, because every four or five months there’d be a two week vacation and you could go somewhere,” Lucie remembered with great affection. “And she said, ‘hey, hey, hey, hey – you’re a theater person at heart, you went to a high school with a great theater department and I’ve seen you in plays and you’ve got to get back to the theater, don’t become a typecast television personality for the rest of your life, you’ll never get out of it.’ And I looked at her and thought wow, I get it. Here she was a pretty terrific theater performer herself for years and years and years and then she had this big such success granted on I Love Lucy but it didn’t last forever and she didn’t own the show and then she started to go back out on the circuit and appeared in Medea, but she’s Ethel Mertz. And they don’t want Ethel Mertz in Medea, so she said make sure that while you’re doing this you’re also going back out there and showing the theater people that you mean business. That you’re for real. And boy that first summer, the next chance I had, I went out on an audition for a summer stock production of Cabaret and was cast to play Sally Bowles.”

 

She went on to play the title role of Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun at the Jones Beach Theatre on Long island, NY and made her Broadway debut in 1979 in the musical They’re Playing Our Song, receiving sensational reviews at the lovable goof Sonia Wolsk, for which she received The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Theatre World and Outer Critics Circle awards. “I think if Vivian hadn’t woken me up a little bit to that who knows where I’d be,” Lucie said. “She knew where my heart was and the interesting thing is that I got the national tour of Seesaw {a musical with a book by Michael Bennett, music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, based on William Gibson’s play Two for the Seesaw} before the Annie Get Your Gun thing, which was my first really big break, and we opened in the Colonial Theatre in Hartford and when the curtain came down I heard this applause just off stage left. I looked in the wings and there was Viv. She had somehow found out that my show was opening in Connecticut and she lived somewhere in Connecticut so she came up and there she was in the wings and I could hardly bow because I was crying so hard.”

 

The influence that Vivian had on Lucie was a very magical connection. Additionally, people want to know how much of her mother and father reside inside of Lucie not only as a performer, but as a person.

 

“I’m definitely a combination of both of them and some of the other great people I’ve worked with my whole life. I’m a sponge. I pick up from everybody and when I was growing up we had a different guest star on the HERE’S LUCY show almost every week for six years and you learn a lot from watching people do what they do,” Lucie explained. “And you learn what to do and what not to do and you learn when somebody comes in with an attitude it’s a much more difficult week. And when everybody has a job and there’s somebody in your office or your store that sucks all the air out of the room it makes it much more difficult to do your job. I decided I didn’t want to be one of those people. I wanted to be one of the people that contributed to the good feeling in the room and not the opposite.”

 

In fact, when you watch Lucie perform you do get a feeling that both her father and mother are present with you during every moment of the show. “I’m sure there’s an infinite amount of things I cannot even list as they’re all inside me and they’re hard to put your finger on,” in terms of their influence, she said. “From my mother it was a personal thing. It was take care of Lucie and what she means by that is you know how when you’re on an airplane and they say if the oxygen mask falls please place it on yourself before you put it on your child … if I don’t take care of me, everything else falls apart around me. And being a mother and a working woman – you know, I’ve got five kids and all kinds of little businesses that I run, I tend to not take time for myself and it’s only now that I’m about to turn sixty that I’m learning to say no in the nicest possible way. But if it’s something that isn’t actually crucial for my business or anything else that doesn’t need to be done I don’t feel obligated to be the person to say yes. I kind of pooh-poohed it when she first said it and I was like yah, yah, yah – thanks mom, you know – but boy that’s great advice. Terrific advice.”

 

“And my dad was extremely practical in a business sense but also in a personal sense. You know how people say one day at a time – well, he took it one step further and would say when things get rough and you’re really wracking you’re brain about trying to figure out how to solve some problem and it doesn’t happen and you go around and around and around and don’t know what to do, he said if that happens – then don’t do anything,” Lucie exclaimed. “I went ‘what?’ He said what that means is that you don’t have enough information and that’s why you don’t know what to do. It’s telling you that you need to go back and ask for more information about the situation. Once a few more pieces of the puzzle fall into place you’ll have a much better idea of what feels right in your own heart and then follow it no matter what anybody says to you.”

“Follow your heart, go through brick walls and up mountains and down the other side and don’t let anybody tell you you’re wrong – follow your heart. And then even if it turns out to not “work out,” it’ll be what you were supposed to do. You’ll either learn an amazing lesson from it that you were supposed to learn or eventually it will put you in a position because something even better happens,” Lucie explained. “You make the best decision you can make and you ask as many questions as you can and you look at it this way and that way and sideways until you think you have enough information and you go for it. And that has helped me so much in my life that it’s unbelievable”

Of course, Lucie speaks very highly of her sibling, Desi Arnaz, Jr. “My brother owns the Historical Boulder City Theatre in Boulder City, Nevada, which was a movie house and then turned into a performance space,” Lucie said “He and his wife (Amy) ran a ballet company for twelve years and they used to rent a little space behind the theater and after awhile it was part of their budget to rent space in it to hold their recitals every year. And finally Desi said it came up for sale one year and thought if he owned the theater he wouldn’t have to pay to do recitals and he could rent it out to other people to bring other shows in and that’s what he does. They don’t own the ballet company anymore. They sold it a few years ago to their partner, but AN EVENING WITH LUCILLE BALL: THANK YOU FOR ASKING {a one-woman play performed by actress and renowned impressionist, Suzanne LaRusch, and written by Suzanne and Lucie.}a show about my mother opened there and he built the sets and did the lighting. He does that kind of thing from time to time and he runs the spotlight and he’s all about being the behind the scenes guy.” If you want more information on productions taking place at this theater you can go to: bcchautauqua.org. The next production takes place on September 17th and its called The Genius of Nature with portrayals of Albert Einstein and John Muir.

 

Lucie currently lives in Connecticut with her husband, the exceptional writer and thespian Laurence Luckinbill, where they’ve teamed up to form ArLuck Entertainment, a film and television production company. “ArLuck Entertainment was originally established so we could produce our own theater productions,” Lucie explained. “Larry writes and creates historical one man shows, the Lyndon Johnson show and the Teddy Roosevelt, Clarence Darrow and Ernest Hemingway shows, and we produce those ourselves and take them out on the road. And when in 1991-2-3, the year’s right after my mother died, I started interviewing people who were still around and I collected this archive of footage which was eventually turned into the Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie, the documentary that appeared on NBC.” This Emmy-Award winning documentary also was seen on A & E and Nickelodeon. In 2001, Lucie and her brother executive-produced the I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Special which aired on CBS, and received an Emmy nomination.

 

And speaking of anniversaries, “My God, we celebrated our 30th anniversary last June 22nd and we’ve been celebrating it all year long with belated cruises, we just came back from our 30th anniversary cruise and yesterday was my 31st anniversary,” Lucie said. She and Larry are the proud parents of three upstanding young adults, Simon, and the forenamed Joseph and Katherine, and Lucie is stepmother to Nicholas and Benjamin. So when this woman says she has to set boundaries and cannot possibly agree to everything that comes her way – she means it – she’s always on the go. It’s because she’s ultra-industrious and is admired for her work ethic that causes her to be in such demand. So take advantage of any opportunity you have to see her perform because it may take her awhile before she gets back to town and you really don’t want to miss her when she is performs in South Florida.

 

You’re really in for the treat of your life when you attend LATIN ROOTS, at 8 PM on Thursday, November 3, at the UM Gusman Concert Hall. Tickets are $50/35/20, available at festivalmiami.com where you can also get a complete listing of concerts that begin on October 15. You can also call the box office at: 305-284-4940. For more information on Lucie please go to luciearnaz.com.

 

Festival Miami began in 1983 and was originally called the International Festival of Americas. It was founded by Dean J. William Hipp with the artistic direction of Multi–GRAMMY® award winner, maestro José Serebrier. This celebration of music and the arts was so successful that it’s now presented every October by the Frost School of Music and is acknowledged as the annual music festival that opens the South Florida arts season. Festival Miami’s very ambitious schedule and innovative programming aspires to offer opportunities for music enjoyment and personal enrichment to as many residents and visitors to the area as possible.

 

Festival Miami Event Schedule

October 1st – November 4th, 2011

Gunther Schuller – Into the Creative Mind of a Total Musician

September 30–3:30 PM
Clarke Recital Hall in the Weeks Center for Recording and Performance
Deepen your understanding of current music trends at a free lecture by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Gunther Schuller, one of America’s most distinguished musical icons. Schuller is also the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” award. FREE

Gala Opening Night: French Horn Celebration Featuring the Frost Symphony Orchestra

October 01–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
The Frost Symphony Orchestra opens Festival Miami 2011 with a bold and brassy French horn exploration of celebrated music by Franz Haydn, distinguished composer Gunther Schuller, and premier hornist and composer Richard Todd. $85/65/45/25

On Stage with Gunther Schuller and the Frost Chamber Players

October 02–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Milhaud’s La Création du monde conducted by Gunther Schuller; Dvořák’s String Quintet No. 2 with Bergonzi String Quartet and Brian Powell; and Schuller’s Quintet for Horn and Strings featuring hornist Richard Todd. $20/$15 seniors/Free for UM student

Emerging Young Composers—New Works for String Quartet

October 05–8:00 PM
Clarke Recital Hall in the Weeks Center for Recording and Performance
Frost School of Music student composers entered an adjudicated competition for new string quartet works and the winners will have their compositions premiered at Festival Miami by the Stamps, Graduate, and Bergonzi String Quartets! FREE

Benny Golson—Taking Note of a Legendary Jazz Career

October 06–4:00 PM
Clarke Recital Hall in the Weeks Center for Recording and Performance
From his early years with Dizzy Gillespie to his remarkable 60-year career as a solo performer and TV and film composer, tenor saxophonist and NEA Jazz Master Benny Golson, provides insight into his creative approaches and career longevity. FREE

Soulive—The Ultimate Feel-Good Groove Band

October 06–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Soulive plays danceable organ-driven grooves fusing soul, jazz, R&B, and blues with hip-hop and funk. Wildly popular at jam fests, they’ve toured with the Rolling Stones and recorded with Chaka Kahn, Talib Kweli, Maceo Parker, Derek Trucks! $40/30/20

Jazz Master Benny Golson with the Frost Studio Jazz Band

October 07–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Jazz aficionados love his “I Remember Clifford” while TV fans know his music from M*A*S*H, Mission Impossible, and The Cosby Show theme. Here, Benny Golson performs his favorite big band arrangements with the Frost Studio Jazz Band. $65/45/25

High Octane Jazz—Introducing New Frost Jazz Professors Brian Lynch and Martin Bejerano

October 08–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Grammy Award-winning jazz trumpeter Brian Lynch pairs up with burning jazz pianist Martin Bejerano and a fantastic rhythm section for an outstanding evening of small group jazz that will light up your spirits and amaze your senses. $40/30/20

Claire Huangci—Chopin Competition Winner with Frost Symphony Orchestra

October 09–4:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
First prize winner at the 2010 National Chopin Piano Competition of USA for her distinguished Chopin interpretations, Claire Huangci performs solo repertoire by Chopin plus Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Frost Symphony Orchestra. $40/30/20

A Whole New Ballgame—Frost Chorale and Frost Symphonic Choir

October 11–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
New choral program director Karen Kennedy leads the Frost Chorale in ethereal works by Whitacre, Orff and more. Frost Symphonic Choir performs excerpts from the base-ball themed The Mighty Casey by W. Schuman. $20/$15 seniors/Free for UM students

Imani Winds—and debut of Stamps Woodwind Quintet

October 12–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Grammy-nominated wind quintet, Imani Winds, is carving out a distinct presence by commissioning new works while meaningfully bridging European, American, African, and Latin American traditions. Stamps Woodwind Quintet also makes its debut. $40/30/20

New York Voices Swing with JV1 Frost Jazz Vocal Ensemble

October 13–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Double Grammy-winning New York Voices are renowned for their excellence in the art of group singing, inspired by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Singers Unlimited and Manhattan Transfer. The JV1 Frost Jazz Vocal Ensemble will also be featured. $50/35/20

United States Marine Band—The President’s Own

October 14–7:29 PM
UM BankUnited Center
Festival Miami announces the University of Miami will host a free concert by the U.S. Marine Band at the BankUnited Center on October 14. The Washington Post calls them “not only the best in the land but, very likely, the best in the world.” FREE

Willy Chirino

October 15–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
When Willy Chirino sings, the salsa band grooves—and the audience truly can’t stop dancing! More than 60 artists including The Gypsy Kings have recorded his song, “Soy.” His CD, Son del Alma, won a Grammy Award for Best Salsa/Merengue Album $70/50/30

Brazilian Superstar Ivan Lins—Romantic and Sophisticated Favorites

October 16–6:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
When multiple Grammy winner Ivan Lins performs his own music, it is pure magic. From “Love Dance” to “The Island,” his magnificent songs are recorded by Simone, Irakerê, Chucho Valdés, Barbra Streisand, Toots Thielemans, and Michael Bublé. $50/35/20

Frost Wind Ensemble Presents the Windswept Music of Michael Colgrass

October 18–7:15 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Frost Wind Ensemble performs Michael Colgrass’s The Winds of Nagual that contemplates the search for the creative self, and Urban Requiem, representing the tragedies, struggles, energy, and power of our cities. $20/$15 seniors/Free for UM students

Suénalo

October 21–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Suénalo is the premier descarga-funk Latin jam band in Miami, with a vivid sound that reflects the cultures that shape the region. The 8-piece act meshes funk, hip-hop, cumbia, timba, jazz, Caribbean rhythms into a multicultural cocktail. $30/20/15

A Tale of Five Cities—Lowenthal Plays Liszt

October 22–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Pianist Jerome Lowenthal performs the solo recital A Tale of Five Cities to commemorate the bicentennial of Franz Liszt’s birth. Includes highlights from Liszt’s Années de pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage) plus Piano Sonata in B Minor. $40/30/20

Gershwin Piano Favorites—Shelly Berg with Santiago Rodriguez

October 23–4:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Dean Shelly Berg and faculty artist Santiago Rodriguez pair up for an all Gershwin, two-piano extravaganza featuring Cuban Overture, Three Preludes, Rhapsody in Blue, and I Got Rhythm Variations; plus Grainger’s Fantasy on Porgy and Bess. $40/30/20

Jackson Browne Unplugged

October 26–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Jackson Browne performs award-winning new songs and mega hits such as “Running on Empty,” “The Pretender,” and “Somebody’s Baby,” in a special all-acoustic concert. $70/$50/$30

Songwriters Showcase—New Songs, New Voices

October 27–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
A fabulous concert featuring songs composed and performed by students enrolled in the Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music program. Judges and audience are polled and the winning act opens the following night’s concert! FREE

Livingston Taylor—Ways to Be Your Best When It Counts the Most

October 28–10:00 AM
Clarke Recital Hall in the Weeks Center for Recording and Performance
In this master class, singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor discusses how to control nervousness and find joy on stage. In addition to his solo career, Taylor has toured with Linda Ronstadt and Jimmy Buffet, and his brother James. FREE

Livingston Taylor

October 28–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Livingston Taylor fills his concerts with upbeat storytelling, a joyous selection of his own writing, and a perfect splash of songs from the great American songbook. If you enjoy James Taylor, Alison Krauss, and Vince Gill, this is a must! $50/35/20

Gemini Presents “Good Mischief—A Musical Celebration for the Whole Family”

October 30–3:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Gemini, twin-brothers Sandor and Laszlo Slomovits, presents “Good Mischief—A Musical Celebration for Children and the Whole Family,” featuring rousing sing-alongs, and original, sparkling songs about the everyday experiences of childhood. $12/$10 Kid

Divergent Boundaries—Faculty Composers Concert

November 02–8:00 PM
Clarke Recital Hall in the Weeks Center for Recording and Performance
For 28 years, Festival Miami has been premiering new works by prominent guest composers and award-winning faculty composers. This year we proudly introduce new works by Lansing McLoskey, Charles Mason, Dennis Kam, JB Floyd, and Dorothy Hindman. FREE

Lucie Arnaz—Latin Roots

November 03–8:00 PM
UM Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Latin Roots is Lucie Arnaz’s fiery, explosive, and heartfelt musical tribute to the rhythm of her roots and a love note to the man who introduced La Conga to the United States, her father, Desi Arnaz. Sophisticated songs with sassy sizzle! $50/35/20

Jazz Meets Gershwin—Hosted by Michael Feinstein

November 04–8:00 PM
Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts
Gershwin represents American music at its best and Festival Miami, JazzRoots and the Arsht Center assembled the best to perform it for you: Michael Feinstein, Denyce Graves, Shelly Berg and Terence Blanchard with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra

 

***

Marla E. Schwartz 

 

A Toledo, OH native, a graduate of Kent State, Marla E. Schwartz is a Senior Writer for Miami Living Magazine, a freelance writer for Lighthouse Point Magazine and the a cultural arts columnist for AroundWellington.com Her photographs have appeared in these publications, in many Ohio periodicals, as well as in The Miami Herald, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post. She has had numerous plays published and produced around the country. Her short play, America’s Working? was produced in Los Angeles at both the First Stage and the Lone Star Ensemble theater companies, in Florida at Lynn University and at an Off-Broadway playhouse in NYC. Her piece, The Lunch Time Café, was a finalist for the Heideman Award, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Please check out the re-prints of her interviews with authors Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson and Dexter novelist Jeff Lindsay in the October 2010 issue #2 and Chris Bohjalian in the April 2011 issue #3 of Duff Brenna’s ServingHouse: A Journal of Literary Arts at www.servinghousejournal.com. You can contact her at marlaschwartz@att.net.

 

 

 

August, 2011 – Vote Naked

admin
-
0
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 
MEDIA CONTACT: Megaan Schraeder
561-444-9884, communications@pbcyd.org
 
Palm Beach County Young Democrats Host ‘Vote Naked!’ Phone Bank
 
            DELRAY BEACH, FL (August 16, 2011) – The Palm Beach County Young Democrats (PBCYD) will host a ‘Vote Naked!’ phone bank on Saturday, August 27 from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. at the Palm Beach County Democratic Executive Committee’s South County Office located at 6634 West Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach.  The phone bank is part of a nationwide effort to bring awareness about recent changes in election laws and to encourage voting by absentee ballot.  The ‘Vote Naked!’ title refers to the option one has to vote without wearing clothes in the privacy of one’s home.
            “The PBCYDs have launched the ‘Vote Naked!’ Campaign outreach to young adults and make sure they will receive their ballots this year,” said PBCYD President Takeata King Pang.  “Vote absentee, vote from home, vote naked – they all mean the same thing!”
There were over 2000 young adults in Palm Beach County that voted by absentee ballot in the 2008 election.  In the past, once registered to vote via absentee ballot, one was automatically sent to the address provided for each election.  The 2011 Florida state legislative session passed a bill (CS/CS/HB 1355) that effectively wiped this list clean thus requiring everyone to re-register.  Recognizing the need to make this public service announcement, the PBCYDs have already hosted a pub crawl to collect absentee ballot applications from patrons on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach.  This second event will include volunteers calling other young voters in the county to brief them on the election law changes.
           
###
 
About Palm Beach County Young Democrats:
The Palm Beach County Young Democrats are a chapter of the Florida Young Democrats and the Young Democrats of Americ).  We are a not-for-profit club with the mission to engage, empower and elect Democrats.  Members must be registered Democrats between the ages of 18-40 years old.  Advisory members are 41 years of age and up.  Follow us on Twitter @pbcyoungdems & Facebook for our latest updates on events and breaking news. 

August, 2011 – 5th Graders Get Help from ArtStart

admin
-
0

Fifth Grade Students Receive Help Preparing

for BAK Middle School Audition and Portfolio Review

ArtStart Offers Classes in its Wellington Studio in Visual Arts, Communications

Wellington, FL- ArtStart, a 501 (3) c non-profit organization based in Wellington, began offering prep classes two years ago for fifth-grade students who had applied to BAK Middle School of the Arts as visual arts and communications majors.  “We saw a need and filled it,” said ArtStart president and founder Jeannette Pomeroy Parssi.  “The audition process, as well as the portfolio review for visual arts applicants, can be very intimidating for the students,” she added, “so we help them prepare by making certain they have everything the school requires.” Parssi said that includes making certain that visual arts applicants have their portfolios completed, and those applying to as communications majors are ready for their interviews and auditions – which include some variation of a creative writing exercise, graphic design, and an oral presentation.  “The requirements change from year to year,” added Parssi, and we stay abreast of the requirements to make sure we’re providing what the students need.”   

 

Upon completing their work, students in both disciplines go through a “mock interview – or more than one if needed,” said Parssi, so they’ll know what to expect when they go in for the real thing.

 

STUDENTS WORK WITH PROFESSIONALS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE FIELDS

 

VISUAL ARTS

Visual arts students work with Ms. Parssi, an accomplished visual artists whose work can be found in galleries and private / corporate collections around the world.  Classes are scheduled in 8-hour sessions, with students attending for two hours each week.  “Our schedule is flexible,” said Parssi, “and we’ll work with the students and their parents to accommodate their needs.”

 

The first order of business with visual arts students is a review of their existing work, to see what needs to be done to meet the BAK portfolio requirements.  “There is almost always something missing,” said Parssi, “so we work on improving what they have and teaching them how to create the missing pieces.”  While the students receive hands-on instruction, Parssi stressed that the students complete the work on their own. “We’ll push them,” she said, “to help them realize that they can accomplish much more than they thought possible.”

 

COMMUNICATIONS

Students applying for a slot in the communications program at BAK work with ArtStart board member Bill Underwood, a communications professional and owner of a marketing & public relations firm.  Classes are scheduled in 8-hour sessions, with students attending for two hours each week.

Depending on current BAK requirements, Underwood may help students understand how to write and deliver a 60-second news report or television commercial, build a magazine ad for a product or service of their own invention and other aspects of the audition. “Students will often come to me with a great idea for a 60-second news report or commercial, but it may be 5 paragraphs long,” said Underwood. “The challenge,” he added, “is to reduce that great idea to its essence, and figure out how to deliver it in one minute or less.”

 

The graphic design element typically involves having students create an 8.5” x 11” magazine ad. “That’s the easier part,” said Underwood, “because kids these days have no fear when it comes to working with a graphic design program; but we make sure they understand the basic principles of layout and design, to ensure that their ad would be effective in the real world.”  After ensuring that the student understands the creative process, Underwood turns the computer over to them and stands by to offer guidance as needed. “The final product,” said Underwood, “is their own creation – and each student is extremely proud of what they have accomplished by the end of the session.”   

 

GOOD SUCCESS RATE

“We have had a very good rate of success, with a majority of our students being accepted into the BAK program,” said Parssi. “It’s a very gratifying feeling when we learn that students have been accepted,” she added. Parssi made it clear that there are no guarantees, and not every student makes in into the program.  “We give them the tools, and do our best to make sure they’re ready,” she said, “but in the end it’s up to the student to do well at the audition.” 

 

One of the most rewarding aspects of the program, said Parssi, is hearing from students and their parents.  After working with Underwood, a student from Palm Beach Gardens sent an e-mail, in which she wrote: “Thank you for your help with my ad, speech, and story. Today I got my results from Bak and on the envelope it said ‘Congratulations’. Need I say more? Anyway I would like to thank you for all your help again.”

CLASSES BEGIN AFTER LABOR DAY

Bak Visual Arts Portfolio/Audition Preparation Classes

Includes art supplies, expert instruction and critique. Classes are taught by ArtStart president Jeannette Pomeroy Parssi. Cost per 8 hour session: $160

 

Bak Communications Audition Preparation Classes

Includes expert instruction and critique. Classes are taught by Bill Underwood, former publicist for the Kravis Center, head writer for World Business Review, and currently president of Liberty Media Group. Cost per 8 hour session: $320

 

For more information, visit www.ArtStartInc.org or call 561-635-2037.

August, 2011 – Dreams Awakening…New Blog

admin
-
0

Dreams Awakening: House of Maverick

House of Maverick is a blog that explores the universe of dreams and the power they contain. It illustrates how it affects us on many levels in our everyday lives and as a human society at large. Passion is the fuel for our dreams.  Through them we can imagine and create. It enables us to switch our energy from passive to active and be present to the moment.

Have a picture of your dream that you want to share with the world?

Scan photographs at a high resolution.

 

Include the following information:

·                     Your name,  location (city, state)

·                     Tell and explain your dream

·                     Someone that inspires you and why?

·                     (If applicable) Identify the people in the photo if other than yourself (names, relationship)

·                     What year was it when the photo was taken?

·                     And tell a brief story about yourself, the photo, the event, and why you think the photo is so awesome, etc…

Dreams are Wonder, They do Excite… Realize your dreams, Come to life!

Please submit dreams to nomad4lifex@yahoo.com. The House of Maverick Blog will premiere in October 2011. Check back at www.HouseofMaverick.com (coming soon) to explore dreams and beyond.

Disclaimer:

By submitting images, text and personal information for possible inclusion on this site, you are agreeing to the following Terms of Submission. We reserve the right to publish your photos and text at our own discretion. We also reserve the right to use and modify submissions as standard procedure. When you email House of Maverick you are granting us the right to a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, fully sub-licensable, exclusive right to use, reproduce, modify, translate, adapt, publish, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, display, and delete such content in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed. You represent and warrant that you have all of these rights to grant to us and that no other rights from any third party will be necessary.

September, 2011 – CAFCI Annual Friendship Ball

admin
-
0
September, 2011 – CAFCI Annual Friendship Ball

The CAFCI Annual Friendship Ball on Saturday, Sept. 24th

cafci-ball

August, 2011 – Funraiser Nights at the NYCC

admin
-
0

Non-Profit Fundraiser Nights at the New York Comedy Club in Boca Raton, FL!

Night of Laughter to Benefit:    ALI’S ALLIANCE   

          

DATE:                                          Saturday, August 27th, 2011

 

COMEDIAN:                                Marion Grodin (subject to change)

 

SHOWTIME:                                7:30pm

 

Location:                                    New York Comedy Club, 1221 Glades Road,  Boca Raton, FL  33434

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Benefit:               UM Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center @ Deerfield Beach: Light The Night-Team in Training for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Date of Show:           SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th,  2011

 

Time of Show:          9:30pm

Location:                  NEW YORK COMEDY CLUB,  Boca Raton  8221 Glades Road, Suite #10, Boca Raton, FL  33434

Entertainer:              Comedian : Cory Cahaney  (Subject to Change)



 

 

To Benefit:               ULTIMATE CHEER & DANCE

 

Date of Show:       SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th,  2011   

 

Time of Show:         9:30pm                                                 

 

Location:                  NEW YORK COMEDY CLUB,  Boca Raton    8221 Glades Road, Suite #10, Boca Raton, FL  33434                                         

 

Entertainer:              Comedian : Cory Kahaney  (Subject to Change)  

Visit the NYCC website for more info: http://www.nyccboca.com/

Or contact Ilyse August to find out more about fundraising for your non-profit organization: info@augustevents.net

September, 2011 – Side Effects

admin
-
0

Side Effects will run September 15 – October 9 at the Mosaic

 

“One of the best plays of the year! This is a play that is a must see.” – Times Square Chronicle

PLANTATION–Award-winning Mosaic Theatre opens its 11th Season with the Southeast U.S. Premiere of Side Effects, an intense, beautiful play which is a harrowing and unique journey, expertly plotted by playwright Michael Weller, author of Loose Ends, Fifty Words and the seminal masterpiece Moonchildren.

Hugh and Lindy’s marriage seems …picture-perfect, a beacon in their microcosmic Midwestern world of dinner parties and fundraisers. But behind closed doors – doors they can barely keep shut – they’re falling apart, and Hugh’s rising political star is suddenly imperiled.

This production launches Mosaic Theatre’s exciting new season and features Carbonell Award winners Jim Ballard and Deborah L. Sherman. 

 

Jim Ballard is returning to Mosaic Theatre again after he was last seen in Dead Man’s Cell Phone. Other regional credits include: The Adding Machine (Best Supporting Actor Carbonell Award) and In the Next Room at Gablestage; The Voysey Inheritance and Tuesdays with Morrie (Caldwell Theatre); Urinetown (Best Supporting Actor Carbonell Award) and 1776 (Actor’s Playhouse), Dinner with Friends (DramaWorks); Leading Ladies and Deathtrap (Blowing Rock Stage Co.); Beauty and the Beast (Little Theatre on the Square and WSCT), and The Sound of Music (National and Asian Tours).

Deborah L. Sherman returns to the Mosaic Theatre after appearing in Rock ‘n’ Roll as Candida and as the drunken wife Hermia in Dead Man’s Cell Phone. Her most recent credits include her work at Florida Stage in the world premiere of Goldie, Max and Milk for which she was honored with the Best Supporting Actress Carbonell Award. Ms. Sherman has appeared in productions all over South Florida including her work at GableStage in Carbonell Award winner Farragut North (Best Ensemble), Shining City and Ten Unknowns. She is Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director of The Promethean Theatre.

Award Winning Director Richard Jay Simon will stage this Southeast U.S. Premiere and the extraordinary creative team includes Set Designer Douglas Grinn, Lighting Designer Dan Gelbmann, Sound Designer Matt Corey (2011 Carbonell Award Winner), Resident Costume Designer K. Blair Brown, Production Stage Manager Linda Harris and graphics/photography by George Schiavone.

Side Effects will run September 15 – October 9, Thursdays through Saturdays @ 8:00 with a Saturday matinee at 3:00 and a Sunday matinee at 2:00. All performances are at Mosaic Theatre located in the American Heritage Center for the Arts at 12200 West Broward Boulevard in Plantation. Ticket prices are $39.50 for adults, $34 for seniors, $15 for students.

Season Subscriptions are still available including Side Effects, the recent Broadway Hit Lombardi, The Birds, The Michael Brewer Project (working title), and the hit of the 2011 Humana Festival, The Edge of Our Bodies. Flexible subscriptions are $167.00 for adults, $145.00 for seniors and $64.00 for students. Group rates are also available. Tickets may be purchased by calling (954) 577-8243 or visiting www.mosaictheatre.com.

1...933934935...1,071Page 934 of 1,071

Around Wellington® is your resource for interesting stories, monthly columns on many areas of expertise, fun contests (with gift cards or tickets to events as the prizes), links to terrific local businesses, a monthly calendar and detailed community information. Learn more.

Quick Links

Get Social with AW!

© 2019 AroundWellington.com | Website design by WebGumption.com